The Shadow-Line

by Joseph Conrad · 1917

The Shadow‑Line: A Confession, written by Joseph Conrad in 1915 and first published in 1917, follows a young sea captain on his maiden command. The novella chronicles a series of crises – a becalmed sea, a fever‑stricken crew, and a deranged first mate – that force the narrator to confront the ambiguous boundary between youth and maturity. Told in a direct first‑person confession, the work draws heavily on Conrad’s own naval experience in the Gulf of Siam, blending nautical adventure with psychological introspection. Though structurally more conventional than his earlier novels, it retains Conrad’s characteristic ambiguity, exploring themes of identity, authority, and the thin line separating the natural from the supernatural.